Featured Early 1900s German Desk? Need help identifying origin

Hello! New member here and this is my first post!

I was given this beautiful desk from the owner of a mansion in Arlington, VA (just outside Washington, DC) which was built in the mid 1940's for a famous local builder. I'm not sure if the desk was there since then, or brought with the most recent owners in the mid-1970's.

I believe it to be German in origin (or made in the USA by a German artisan) because the drawers on the right side have German designations for top, middle, and bottom written on the underside.

It also appears that the desk was modified at some point to add ribbon and reed details to the front and back as well. This made it all the more interesting to me because it looks like it was modified to copy some common federalist style furniture pieces seen around the White House and Capitol Building in Washington, DC. I remember in my own research a while back, I saw a similar desk on a Polish auction website (without the ribbon and reed details), but I have not been able to find it again. Any help identifying the origin of it, or some help pointing me in a direction to research would be much appreciated!

Desk in situ in the home it came from.


Desk in it's new home with a refinished surface

Evidence of attachment of Ribbon and Reed detailing.


Maybe "Oben" (German word for "top")


3 Drawers in place (sorry for the mess!)


"Mitte" (German word for "middle")


Maybe "Unteres" (German word for "bottom")?


Close up of the edge detail on the desktop.

Close up of the ribbon and reed detail.

 

looks original to me....

is it now more walnut...than the cherry it used to look like ???

photo's can be hard on actual color...

 

@verybrad
@Ghopper1924

 

Welcome Dan!
You’ve plainly gone to alot of time and trouble researching your desk, far more than most of our new members. Your supposition regarding the drawers and their German language definitions seems logical. Your oak desk may very well have come from Germany. I would say that it was made before the mid-1940s, I would say 1920s or so, but the styling is so conservative that it makes a definitive date more difficult.
Anyway, a fine piece and it seems as though it’s in good hands with you!

 

Probably not American so a German speaking country origin is likely. The use of the piano hinge makes me think mid 20th century but other details indicate it could be older. No reason to believe it has been modified.